Candidates had the chance at Wednesday’s hustings at St Ninian’s Old Parish Church, Stirling, to say why they thought Brexit had yet to be delivered.

Alyn Smith, SNP, the only current MEP on the panel, said they had set out a compromise proposal but the UK Government was ignoring Scotland.

He added: “And it’s not just us, it’s Wales as well and most importantly it’s Northern Ireland. And the situation in Northern Ireland is far too serious for the games that are being played with this down in Westminster.”

Mr Smith also reiterated the SNP’s support for remaining in the EU.

Stirling Council Tory Group leader Neil Benny, who represented the Conservatives as none of their election candidates were able to attend, accused all parties’ political games for stymying Brexit.

He urged voters to get behind Theresa May and said: “The Conservatives have been trying to get a deal to leave the EU. Our election promises in the UK were to honour the result of the referendum.

“Locally here in Stirling, it was clear when people elected a Conservative MP that we were saying ‘we’re going to leave the EU,
get the best of Brexit’, and that’s the mandate that he is working to.

“The sooner we can rally around the Prime Minister, and the sooner we get a deal that allows us to leave the EU smoothly, the better.”

The majority of the candidates welcomed a second referendum – or People’s Vote – on European Union membership as a possible way forward.

Green candidate Maggie Chapman criticised David Cameron’s administration’s handling of the 2016 referendum, also taking aim at the Leave campaign.

She said: “The party of government who gave us the referendum in 2016 had no plan. We were sold a false prospectus. We know the Leave campaign broke electoral law, we have judicial ruling on that.

“And because the referendum was advisory, it cannot be challenged. If this were a normal election it would have been thrown out. The only possible democratic way out of this is to put it back to the people for a People’s Vote.”

Sheila Ritchie, of the Liberal Democrats, also took the opportunity to criticise the Leave campaign.

She said: “The reason we’re in this mess is because, to give the SNP its due, they produced a blueprint for independence. What did we get from the Leave campaigners? Paint on the side of a bus.

“The options are many and varied. The four main ones, customs union, single market, no deal and Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement.

“They’re not the same. You can’t actually say that any one of them meets the aspirations of the 17 million people who voted to leave.

“Politicians can’t take back a referendum, but you have to make it clear to people what you get when you vote Leave, and what you get when you vote Remain.”

Change UK’s Peter Griffiths laid out his case for a new EU referendum as a choice between three options. He said: “The deal that’s on the table, which we’ve already heard about. A ‘no deal’ Brexit, a catastrophic Brexit. Because I’ve worked in these structures that have got to be unpicked, it’s really difficult to undo them.

“The last one, there was a lot of work done in ensuring there is one final option, which is to revoke Article 50.

“That is the choice that the people of this country should make their view on.”

Brexit Party candidate Jim Ferguson criticised the concept of a second referendum.

He said: “There’s been an awful lot of fear and scaremongering going on. I’ve never met a Leaver voter who said they didn’t know what they were voting for.

“We voted to Leave, we have already had the People’s Vote.”

Labour’s Craig Miller expressed uncertainty over a second referendum, calling for cooperation between the major parties to “find some Brexit that would perhaps get the support of the parliament and the country”.

He said: “We need to get together and we need to talk this through, and we need to talk it through sensibly and quickly because people are suffering.

“It’s time that everyone got on with it, and if resolving that means we have to go back to the people in a People’s Vote, then so be it. However, you should only go back to the people if you’re sure you are going to win. And at the moment, I don’t think anyone can be sure that remain is going to win.”

The candidates were also quizzed on issues such as EU reform and climate change, as well taking questions from the audience on the impact of Brexit on public services, human rights, and the status of EU citizens.